Shock absorber for railway car trucks



Aug. 4, 1953 A. E. DENTLER 2,647,744

SHOCK ABSORBER FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS Filed Nov. 1, 1951 2sheetssheet 1 Aug. 4, 1953 A. E. DENTLER SHOCK ABSORBER FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. l, 1951 5V A .w

I nvfefor; .rnoZ/d EDen/Zex 26479@ 5 Mgg Patented Aug. 4, 1953 TRUC Arnold E.-Den'tler, Western Springs, Ill., assignor to W. H. Minenlnc., Chicago, Ill.,ia.corporation ioffDelaware -AliplicationNovexnher 1, 1951,'SerialNo. 254,385

(Cl. l2657*--90 This invention relates "to v'imp'iovements in shock `absorbers adapted for use as snubbing devices in connection 'with truck springs of 'railway cars.

One object ofthe invention is nto provide a simple vand efcient snubber, 'comprising few parts, Which may be cheaply "and economically manufa-ctured, and readily applied in place of one or more of the vusual spring units of a cluster -o'f ,1,0

railway car truck springs.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a friction'shock absorber, functioning as a 'Snu-bbing device 'for truck `springs of railway cars, comprising a p-airof friction casings movable toward and away from each other lengthwise of "1'5 the mechanism, .a set of friction shoes in sliding frictiona'l engagement with the interior walls of the casings, a pair of Wedges engaged with the shoes for spreading the same apart Sand forcing .for pressing the wedges againstthe shoes, and spring `means reacting between the casings and shoes for yieldingly resisting relative approach o'f thecasings.

Other objects of the'invention'w'ill more clearly 25 appear from the 'description and claims hereinafter following.

jl'n the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is atop plan 'view ofthe improved shock absorber. vertical 'sectional view on two intersecting'pla'nes disposed at lan'angle of 120 degrees tofeachother, said view being taken substantially yon the line 2--2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is 'a horizontal sectional view, corresponding 'substantially to the 35 line FLL-3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 isa broken, lho'ri,7 zontal sectional view,'-correspon`ding substantially `to Athe `line 4 4 of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a top --plan view-fof one of the `frictionf'shoes of the improved shock absorber 'illustrated 1in Figures 1 to 40 .4 inclusive. Figure v6 .is an elevational vie-W of l'ligure 5, 'looking upwardly .in 'said iig-ure. Figvur-e 7 4is a View similar to FigureJZ, showing .anfother :embodiment of the invention. Figure 8 vis la top plan view 4of the bottom wedge and vthe -45 rubber vblock shown -in Figure 7. VFigure 9 is a broken View similar ytoFigure 2, illustrating still fanotherembodiment of the invention.

Referring first to rthe embodiment `of the invention illustrated in AFigures 1 `to '6 inclusive, my .50

improved friction shock absorber comprises broadly top and bottom friction casing's vA-v-A, three friction shoes B-B-B, top and tbottom A-vvedges C"C, top and bottom springs LlD--Dlre- Vthe same against the casing Walls, yielding means '20 Figure 2 'is a 30 additional'spring ,E reacting between the top and bottom wedges C-C.

lThe top and bottom casings ie-A are of the same design, each casing A being in the form 'of a tubular shell lo'f cylindrical cross section, closed at one end by a transverse wall l and open 'at lthe other end. The transverse wall lil 'of the top casing A closes the top end of the same and the transverse Wall Ill of the bottom casing closes the vlower end of the latter. The cylindrical portion or shell section of each casing A presents a lengthwise extending, interior, friction surface Il, which is of cylindrical contour. The portion of the wall of the shell section of each casing, which presents the cylindrical friction surface Il, is thickened as shown most clearly in 'Figure l. The thickened portion of the wall of the shell portion of each casing A 'is provided with seats or notches 12 at the inner end of the friction surface of said casing, the Vseats or notches 'being three in number and being spaced 120 degrees apart. The seatsor notches l'Z--IZ--IZ provide horizontal stop 'shoulders l3--I3-i3 at their inner ends with which retaining means, hereinafter described, on the friction shoes B are engageable.

The 4friction shoes BB-B are all of the same design, and together form a lfriction means or unit. Each shoe l B comprises a transversely curved plate member I4., having a lengthwise eX- tending, transversely curved friction surface I5 on 'the outer slide. On the inner side, midway between the Vends thereof, 'each shoe is inwardly enlarged to provide `an inward-ly extending flange or wed-ge projection It. The Wedge projection 'I6 of each shoe is cut out to 4.provide a V-shaped .opening presenting top and bottom, opposed Wedge faces l1 and I8 which converge in lateral outward direction. As .shown in Figure each wedge face ll and i8 Yis of V-shape in transverse direction. The three shoes B-B-B are arranged in annular series with their upper and lower ends extending into the top and bottom friction casings A-eeA, respectively, and slidingly engaging the vfriction surfaces li-il thereof.

Each shoe-Bhas outwardly projecting top and Ibottom lugs lI 9--19 thereon, which are located centrally between ythe sides thereof. The lugs 19e-19, lil-4Q, and Iii-I9 of the three shoes B-"B-B iproject into the seats `IZ-I 2-12 and v|2-i2-:l2 or 'the top and I'bottom casings .fi-1A and shoulder against the stop shoulders |13-l3-i3 and "IdiB-f-i :to limit separation .of E.the'c'asings A-A flengthwise of the mechanism @acting between the Casin-gs land slices, and ian 555 eanzdfholdthemechanismfassembled.

The top and bottom wedges C-C are of similar design, each being in the form of a cupshaped cap, closed at the outer end by a transverse wall 20 and open at the inner end. The wedges C-C are preferably of hexagonal outi line, as shown. Each wedge C has an outwardly face upwardly and are in wedging engagement y with the top wedge faces I'I-l'l-I'l of the shoes B--B-B and the bottom wedge C has the wall 20 at its 22-22-22 of said cap face downwardly and are in wedging engagement with the bottom Wedge faces |3-l8-l8 of said shoes B-B-B Each spring D is in the form of a helical coil of relatively large diameter. The top spring D is arranged within the top casing A surrounding the upper portion of the caplike top wedge C vand has its top and bottom ends bearing respectively on the top wall I9 of the top casing A and the top sides of the flanges lG-lE-IG of the shoes B-B-B The bottom spring D is arranged within the bottom casing A, surrounding the lower portion of the lower caplike wedge C and has its top and bottom ends bearing respectively on the bottom wall l0 of the bottom casing A and the underneath sides of the flanges l-l-lii of the shoes B-B-B.

The spring E, which is also in the form of a helical coil, is housed within the caplike wedges C-C and has its top and bottom ends bearing on the walls 2li-20 of said top and bottom wedges C-C, respectively. This spring E is under initial compression, thereby forcing the Wedges C-C against the wedge faces of the shoes B--B-B and pressing the latter against the friction surfaces of the top and bottom casingsAA--A My improved shock absorber preferably replaces one or more of the spring units of atruck spring cluster, being interposed between the top and bottom spring plates of said cluster.

The operation of my improved shock absorber is as follows: Upon the spring cluster of the truck of a railway car being compressed between the spring follower plates of the cluster, the springs D and casings A-A are moved lengthwise relatively to each other, thus providing frictional resistance which is substantially constant throughout the compression stroke of the mechanism. The frictional resistance thus provided effectively snubs the action of the truck springs.

During recoil of the truck springs, the springs D-D expand, returning the parts of the mechanism to the normal full release position shown in Figure 2.

lThe embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures l and 8 comprises friction casings F-F, three shoes G--G-G, wedges H--I-I, and springs K-K, which are identical with the casings A--A, three shoes B-B-B, wedges C--Cy springs D-D of the construction shown in Figures l to 6 inelusive, and a rubber element L, which is in the form of a block of originally substantially rectangular shape. The element L is interposed between the wedges H-H andis under initial compression, thus assuming the distorted shape shown in Figure 7.

Referring next to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 9, the construction is identical with that shown in, Figures 7 and 8 lower end and the wedge faces.

D are compressed and the shoes B-B-B y with the exception that the casings F-F are of hexagonal transverse cross section and have inwardly converging friction surfaces 3l) and the shoes G-G-G have inclined friction surfaces 3l, which cooperate with the surfaces 30. Due to this tapered and inclined arrangement of the friction-surfaces, the shoes are forced laterally inwardly toward the central longitudinal axis of the mechanism during the compression stroke,

thereby forcing the wedges H-H together and additionally compressing the rubber block L. Increasing frictional resistance is thus provided during the compression stroke of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 9.

I claim:

l. In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a pair of friction casings, closed at their outer ends, and having interior friction surfaces at their inner ends; of a plurality of lengthwise extending friction shoes having their opposite ends telescoped within said casings, respectively, in sliding frictional engagement with the friction surfaces of the latter; springs within said casings at opposite ends of the mechanism, each spring being buttressed at one end against said shoes and at the other end against the closed end of one of said casings; a pair of wedge caps in wedging engagement with said shoes; and yielding means between said caps for forcing said caps apart.

2. In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a top casing; of a bottom casing, said top casing being closed at its upper end and said bottom casing being closed at its lower end; a plurality of :friction shoes arranged lengthwise of the mechanism and having their opposite ends slidingly telescoped within said casings in frictional engagement with the interior walls of the latter,v said shoes having laterally inwardly extending enlargements between the ends thereof, each of said enlargements presenting top and bottom, interior vwedge faces; top and bottom wedge caps, said top cap having wedge faces engaging with said top wedge faces of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom cap having wedgefaces in wedging engagement with said bottom wedge faces of said enlargements; top and bottom springs within said casings, said top spring bearing` on said closed end of said top casing and the upper sides of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom spring bearing on said closed end of said bottom casing and the underneath sides of said enlargements of said shoes; and yielding means under initial compression contained within and reacting between said top and bottom wedge caps to force the same apart lengthwise of the mechanism.

3, In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a pair of friction casings, closed at their outer ends, and having interior friction surfaces at their inner ends; of a plurality of lengthwise extending friction shoes having their opposite ends telescoped within said casings, respectively, in sliding frictional engagement with the friction surfaces of the' latter; springs within said casings at opposite ends of the mechanism, each spring being buttressed at one end against said shoes and at the other end against the closed end of one of said casings; a pair of wedge caps in wedging "engagement with said shoes; and a spring between said caps for forcing said caps apart.y

l 4. In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a top casing; of a bottom casing, said top ,casing being closed at itsv upper end and said bottom casing being closed at its lower end; a plurality of friction shoes arranged lengthwise of the mechanism and having their opposite ends siidingly telescoped within saidcasings in frictional engagement with the interior walls of the latter, said shoes having laterally inwardly eX- tending enlargements between the ends thereof, each of said enlargements presenting top and bottom, interior wedge faces; top and bottom wedge caps, said top cap having wedge faces engaging with said top wedge faces of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom cap having wedge faces in wedging engagement with said bottoni wedge faces of said enlargements; top and bottom springs within said casings, said top spring bearing on said closed end of said top casing and theupper sides of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom spring bearing on said closed end of said bottom casing and the underneath sides of said enlargements of said shoes. and a spring under initial compression contained within and reacting between said top and bottom wedge caps to force the same apart lengthwise of the mechanism.

5. In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a pair of friction casings, closed at their outer ends, and having interior friction surfaces at their inner ends; of a plurality of lengthwise extending friction shoes having their opposite ends telescoped within said casings, respectively, in sliding frictional engagement with the friction surfaces of the latter; springs within said casings at opposite ends of the mechanism, each spring being buttressed at one end against said shoes and at the other end against the closed end 0f one of said casings; a pair of Wedge caps in Wedging engagement with said shoes; and a rubber block between said caps for forcing said caps apart.

6. In a friction shock absorber, the combination with a top casing; of a bottom casing, said top casing being closed at its upper end and said bottom casing being closed at its lower end; a plurality of friction shoes arranged lengthwise of the mechanism and having their opposite ends slidingly telescoped within said casings in frictional engagement with the interior walls of the latter, said shoes having laterally inwardly extending enlargements between the ends thereof, each of said enlargements presenting top and bottom, interior wedge faces; top and bottom wedge caps, said top cap having wedge faces engaging with said top wedge faces of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom cap having wedge faces in wedging engagement with said bottom wedge faces of said enlargements; top and bottomv springs within said `casings, said top spring bearing on said closed end of said top casing and the upper sides of said enlargements of said shoes, and said bottom spring bearing on said closed end of said bottom casing and the underneath sides of said enlargements of said shoes; and a rubber block under initial compression contained within and reacting between said top and bottom wedge caps to force the same apart lengthwise of the mechanism.

ARNOLD E. DENTLER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,378,868 Johnson May 24, 1921 1,883,049 Sproul Oct. 18, 1932 2,097,523 Hedgcocl; et al Nov. 2, 1937 2,520,845 Lehrman et al Aug. 29, 1950 

